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Bulawayo acting town clerk Sikhangele Zhou, (left) Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs Minister Joel Biggie Matiza and Bulawayo Mayor Clr Martin Moyo pose for a picture at the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing’s 4th annual Local Authority Merit Awards ceremony held in Bulawayo on Wednesday night

Thandeka Moyo  Chronicle Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council has been named the best performing local authority in the country.
The local authority also scooped the best prize in water supply and bagged the community services award during the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing’s 4th annual Local Authority Merit Awards that were held in the city on Wednesday night.

The BCC walked away with a tractor, one projector and 200 metres of precast concrete sewer pipes.

Other local authorities that were recognised at the ceremony include Victoria Falls Council which was the best in pollution control and Umguza Rural District Council which won in road maintenance.

Kwekwe City Council won first prize in governance and was the runner up in water supply. Harare City Council walked away empty handed.
Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Martin Moyo said he was happy that BCC had excelled and promised that the municipality would continue to bring out its best.

“We’re very delighted with being awarded the overall best performing local authority prize.  We promise to keep doing our best in ensuring service delivery is up to standard. These awards will go a long way in motivating us to improve,” said Clr Moyo.

Congratulating the winning councils at the event, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo noted that local authorities were facing financial challenges that hindered service delivery.

He said it was his expectation that councils would continue to improve their operations to foster national development.

The minister said on its part, the government was working on a raft of short to medium term measures to enhance the capabilities of local authorities.

“Given the foregoing, I wish to commend the initiatives undertaken by several local authorities in building internal capacities from own resources. Notable among such initiatives include self-financed recapitalisation measures, particularly in the areas of ICTs and procurement of requisite plant and equipment,” he said.

Minister Chombo also said there were some local authorities whose performance had remained below expectation.

“It’s my observation that the poor performance of local authorities in this category has largely been a result of poor management practices and weak corporate governance systems. It’s therefore imperative that the leadership of such councils should quickly harness all available resources within their jurisdiction with a view to improve service delivery levels in their constituencies,” he added.